Quartzite, Az.

Quartzite, Az.

Quartzite, Az.

Monday, December 29, 2008

These are our kids. Yes I said kids. It doesn't matter how old they get they will continue to be our kids.

Our Christmas gathering was very intimate and very warm. I was lucky to have mi chica, my mom, all my kids, their spouses, and my grand kids with me. We spent some time at my sister's house and right after midnight we came over to our house. The kids got to open their presents and were not disappointed.

Mi chica looked pssssst HOT! She is a looker isn't she?

My mom and I.

My two older grandbabies, Brianna and Tallyana>

There were hardly any toys, it was mostly clothes but mi chica was smart enough to buy them shirts with super heroes like "Transformers", "Iron Man", "Batman", (I believe no "Cars" related items this year). The kids were just happy to see their favorite TV heroes printed all over their clothing.

Once upon a time, I too just to get too excited to open my presents, now my happiness is their happiness.

We had our "White Elephant" gift exchange and that brought a lot of laughs and good humor to our night. But since I had already written about Christmas I will not bore you with a repeat post, instead I'll just share some images of that wonderful night.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas has passed but the Christmas Spirit should remain with us in our hearts all year long.

Not as crazy or as hectic as in previous years but just as beautiful and warm as ever. Christmas was toned down quite a bit this year. Mostly everyone made an appearance but some decided to stay home and celebrate it with their own clan. I am stuck on traditions and would really love for my grand kids to experience Christmas as I have done in the past. Too much is said about the commercial aspect of the season but it's up to us to determine what the real meaning of Christmas is. Family and family unity is always at the top of my list, with a family as big as ours it is getting harder and harder for us all of us to be together at the same time, but it's not impossible.

One of my brother in law had to leave to California on Christmas eve as his mom has fallen ill and he wanted to spend Christmas there with her. The rest of us decided to gather at my sister's house where we had some pretty good home made tamales, along with some salads, and beans. After that there was plenty of chocolate for dessert.

We had white elephant gift exchange with only twelve of us participating. As usual it's always fun to open a gift from under the tree but in many cases it's more fun to go and steal one from somebody else. Other than that the gift giving was kept to a minimal with the kids being the only recipients.

Me, I was happy enough just to have all those I love around me. I am certainly making sure that when I grow old--er I have my family with me. I refuse to grow apart from those I love as I grow old. So this year I gave my time, my love, and myself to those that matter and in return I got the same times two. Yes, indeed, I am a lucky man and I do not take anything for granted. This is an ongoing everyday activity, that somehow acquire a whole new meaning during Christmas.

As we prepare for the new year, I vow to continue to be the same as I always am. I am very approachable and have nothing but love for all my family and friends. With mi chica by my side armed with her love and support, I am ready to start the new year and to embrace whatever it may bring. I do wish a Happy New Year to all of you, may it be prosperous and good, just keep in mind that we are the masters of our destiny and it will take us more effort than usual should things continue the way they are these days.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Here are the rules for the award:"You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.Link back to the person who gave you the award.List 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the Christmas cheer going!Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award

1-The birth of baby Jesus.

2-Family Unity.

3-The music

4-The festive mood and all the food.

5-The love

6-Seeing Christmas through my grand kid's eyes.

While some are busy trying to be "Scrooge" and gong Bah-humbug, some of us are just taking it all in. The festivities, the goodies, the food, the fact that the vast majority is in a good mood and spreading good wishes. And above all just looking forward to spend this wonderful time with all my family. I am a lucky man, my friend ChrisJ just commented on how some families grow up and grow apart. Mine is growing big and pretty much staying together.

There is just too many of us to agree on everything, but for the most part we all agree that family comes first. My little nucleus of 15 keeps growing and I am lucky enough to have them all around me.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Times are tough, people are losing their jobs, the economy is real bad, companies are being bought or going out of business, crime is high, our climate keeps changing. That for sure is a sign of the times. What are we doing about it?

Sometimes I wonder, what is it I can do to make sure that my grand kids have a chance at a good future. At age 49 I feel as I've had a good enough life, I had it good and that is in part thanks to my parents upbringing. They truly did their part for me. Then I was lucky enough to find my long time life partner. Yes mi chica without a doubt has been my greatest strength, our is a story in the making and to date 27+ years strong.

These past few months have been tough, work has been really slow and the company where I work had been owned by a sole owner up until last week. Yeap, it has been sold and after 18 years of working there I will own a little tiny piece of it thanks to the man I have served all this time. Talk about being appreciative. If all goes as planned I will have a good investment in it. The company is not going public but we were offered to buy into the company with a minimum investment of $10,000 dollars. I pray everything goes as planned. I also pray that the new year makes it grow stronger now that there will be more moneys to be invested in it. Yes we all know that having new bosses can be either a blessing or a curse. Only time will tell as the new chapter is written.

So, it is with mixed emotions that I write this. The uncertainty is there, as we really don't know what is coming in the near future, a lot of people think they have a job today and then they don't have one tomorrow.

A good example of this is what happened to our local radio personality Dave Pratt of KMLE. Dave Pratt had the most successful and longest running morning show in Phoenix . Last Thursday on my way to work I listened to his show as I do every morning, that same night in the local TV news we all heard that Dave Pratt and his crew had been all fired from their positions. He still had two years left in his contract. This means they must have been called right after their show was over to be given the bad news.

2008 has been a good year for us but definitely a rough year for America. I have all the confidence in the world that next year will be the start of a new chapter. There will be some major changes I'm sure and it will ultimately will be up to us to make many of them work.

I hope that no matter what your current situation is the Christmas Spirit will find it's way into your home and into your lives. I wish you all my blogging friends and family a Merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's hard to believe that the above picture was taken just two weeks ago. I was sunny, a little hot, and believe it or not it was perfect weahter for a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. It kindda makes this a "Sunny Christmas".

Every year mi chica and my daughter decorate the living room for Christmas. Mi chica sets the table and my daughter does the tree, the windows, and wraps the presents. I pretend that I help but truth be told it's all their hard work that shows. Knowing how to delegate is a great part of being a good supervisor, and trust me I know how to delegate.

As promised on a previous post here are the images showing their hard work. This is our very own Winter Wonderland. Oh, and this year, the kids help decorate a lot.

Just so you know, it's 11:45 p.m. Arizona time as I write this and it's hella raining outside and it's windy. It kindda looks and feels like a tropical storm.

Every year mi chica sets the table a little bit different. Last year is was red this year it's gold.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

They brought "Christmas Angels" and "Veteran Stars" to my place of work. I picked a "Veteran Star" and it turns out that all I had to do was buy a pair of large men's boxers. Wow, I guess although a very simple gift it's probably a needed necessity for someone. So to whom it may concern, I hope they fit. A big thanks to my daughter and her husband for going to get them for me late at night since I as usual procrastinated and waited until the last moment.

I knew that after Thanksgiving there were going to be all kinds of goodies to eat at work. I must admit I do try them but I am resisting going for seconds. Man, it's hard when there's so much good stuff coming in daily. There's been, plenty of chocolate, and some very tasty sugar cookies ummmm I really liked those. But to me my all time every year favorite is the caramel popcorn. I just can't get enough of the stuff. So today I got me a handful and walked away, otherwise I would have finished the whole container.

My 5-year old was having a conversation with probably another five year old and apparently this little kid was saying he wasn't happy with his parents. My grandson's reply was simply this and I quote: "You should be happy with the parents you got". Wow, my grandson is not only smart but he is also wise, must have take after a certain grandpa. Yeah, that's the ticket. lol

I'm already a proud grandpa, and then he comes home with a Student of the Month award.

Then my 22-year old daughter was out and about when she text me the following:

I saw something so cute in a store window today. I was gonna get it for you for Christmas but then I realized it was my reflection.

Now tell me that's not cute. I have said it before, I really am a simple man. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

This is how my Christmas season is shaping up. I am no Grinch. Christmas truly is my favorite time of the year. How is your Christmas season going?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Yesterday was the last show of the 2008 instalment of the "Star of Wonder Celebration of Christmas" at Phoenix First. My daughter in law wanted us to go but neither mi chica nor I felt like going out at all so we handed the kids the keys to the van and sent them on their way. It was the last day they would be performing and of course it was packed. In fact it was so packed that they had to wait for the next show. I know for them it was worth the wait because Phoenix First puts out a great production.

In the meantime mi chica and I enjoyed a whole Sunday by ourselves without the noise of the kids and were able to watch Christmas movies all day long. I am sure by now most of you know that I am a serious Christmas movie watcher. lol

My daughter was supposed to turn our living room into a Christmas Wonderland since the day after Thanksgiving but apparently the lack of Christmas lights prevented her from doing so. Well, yesterday while they were out and in a matter of minutes mi chica finished what my daughter started. Every year she sets her dinning room table and it always looks wonderful.

My daughter had already hung the stockings and and put up decorations now the only thing that needs to be finished is the Christmas Tree. Yes, she now has lights and the tree should finally be lit by tonight. I wanted her to finish last night but my grandson had asked her to wait for him because he wanted to help her.

That is what Christmas is all about. Doing things together as a family. The presents are nice but the memories we can build together are better.

As always I will be posting some pictures of our little Winter Wonderland or in this case Winter Living room just as soon as the tree is up and lit.

A frind of mine forwarded this performace to me via an email and I liked it so much that now I will share it with all of you here on my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Friday, December 12, 2008

One of my favorite Christmas songs of all times is actually a little sad. A friend of mine posted it on bix and that made me go and listen to the original on youtube.

I am sure that I am not the only one that feels Karen Carpenter left us way too soon. So many artist good and bad have sang this song but I really don't think anybody even comes close to this version.

So many people that are in the service will most likely relate to this song but in my case it makes me appreciate the fact that mi chica is with me at all times. I know we are blessed that way, we are indeed lucky to have each other, to support each other, and to love each other. In addition, we also have the joy of having all of our kids and grandkids around us. So I guess I can say I love this song because it makes me realize how lucky I am to have so much.

Today is Friday and I am excited that it is karaoke night, however I am losing my voice to this weather change. It's like just last week it was summer and today winter is here. Man we don't get fall at all, we go from summer straight to winter, yeah pretty much "Do not pass go, do not collect $200". But we'll see, with a little luck and a shot of tequila my voice may just come back. What? You didn't know tequila can be is medicinal like that. Ummm try it, you may like it. lol

Thursday, December 11, 2008

OK,I am officially considered to be loco by the Phoenix residents surrounding my work place. See, while taking my midday walk I decided to listen to some tunes out of my new iPod Shuffle, it certainly made the 35 minutes more enjoyable. What I didn't realize is that while waking I was singing along to the music and some people were having lunch under a big tree and I didn't see them. When I finally saw them they were looking at me funny and I realized then that I was singing pretty loud.

A few minutes later another good song started and by pure instinct my mouth started singing again. Then I realized that two of the cars parked by the sidewalk had people in them eating lunch. They were laughing, I am sure I sounded awful as I've had a sore throat all week.

But hey, que sera, sera they better get used to it because I intend to keep walking every day during my lunch time.

My sister is sending me a pedometer that was given to her but she doesn't use it. I am actually curious to find out how much walking I do.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Now that it's not hot anymore I am doing my "lunch time" walk again. Two miles of walking in 35 minutes. It actually feels good to do it even though I see absolutely no results. Since I don't sweat I am sure I don't lose any weight by walking. I hope to at lest get a good cardio workout out of it.

At work we all received an iPod shuffle as a Christmas present. My daughter loaded it with music I like and yesterday I brought it with me so I could use it during my walk. Well, I think it would help if I turn it off when I finish using it. The last time I used it I just put it away without turning it off and it drained the battery, needless to say, no music while walking until I get it recharged. OK, I really wasn't without music, because I sang and hummed and whistled a song or two.

We always found our destination just fine, but now many people can't find their ways unless they have a GPS, the funny thing is that they still get lost. There are those that claim then can't find their way without it. It makes me wonder how they did it before. I'm as old school as it gets, I still call for directions and find my destination pretty much very easy.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Although I really don't play any musical instruments even though I've tried I can still say that I and my whole family for that matter are very musical. A lot of what we do revolves around music. We love to dance and we love to sing. My brother is an awesome DJ my dad used to sing the masses when he was young, my sister is the church choir director.

That's why when Mr Manuel of Manuel's View shared this link I just had to try it. The link is for "The Number 1 Song This Day On History". Here you can enter a date and it will tell you which song was number one at that time.

Turns out that when I was born the number 1 song of the day was "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny. I must admit, I have heard this song thousands of times and I never knew the name until today. I had to youtube it to hear which one it was. I can tell you right now that I have slow dance that song with my chica many times. Next time we dance this song I'll be able to tell her in her ear, "Yo baby, that was the numero uno song when I was born".

When mi chica and I married "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross was the number one song. Funny because the movies were about a rich wino, but I always liked the song. The song said, "The best that you can do is fall in love" that's why on that month I got married.

But if my math is correct, the number one song when I was conceived back in 1958 was... drum roll pleaseeeeeee! brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. "The Chipmunk Song" by David Seville and the Chipmunks. He, he, he, you think my parents were rockin' to that song thinking it was romantic, y saz, nine months later there I come, here I am, here I am?

So there you have it. I didn't do one for when I graduated because I forgot which month I graduated in.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Wow, what a weekend I had. Christmas party on Friday, my goddaughter's birthday party on Saturday, and my grandson's birthday party on Sunday. Never a dull moment in the Joe Cool household.

And here is my duck blowing off the candles on his homemade Wall-E cake.

Throw in the mix the fact that the Cardinals, the team I have followed and been a fan of for 18 years clinched the first title in 33 years. Yeah, there was a bit of screaming and celebrating over at my house.

"My coach was like, 'Act like you've been there before, act like you've been there before,"’ defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "I said 'Coach, I ain't been there before. I don't know how to act right now."'

As NFC West champions, the Cardinals will host a playoff game for the first time since, as the Chicago Cardinals, they defeated Philadelphia to win the NFL title in 1947. Rest assured that for us here in Phoenix this will be like hosting the Super Bowl all over again. I am not a big sports fan, I have already expressed that before, but I do root for my local teams and the Cards really deserve to be where they are right now. In the past all I expected from them was for them to beat the Cowboys and the Raiders and I was a happy camper.

To end the week on a good note I invited mi chica to watch a movie with me. I have started my Christmas movie recording mode and the DVR is full of them right now. I had recorded the movie "P.S. I love you", my daughter told me it was a really good movie, as we were starting to watch it my other daughter told me that my grandson messed the recording up. So... we I erased it and picked another movie. We chose a movie called "The Christmas Choir". It was one of those feel good Christmas movies and both mi chica and I were enjoying it until without warning with about less than ten minutes for the movie to end the recording stopped. Yep, we did not watch then end. Hopefully we will catch it again so that we can see how it ended.

I do have a bunch of pictures from the weekend but they are in my lap top so... come back to see them tonight when I post them. Until then, have a great week.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Thanks to all that were hoping I would win one of the two trips given away every year during our Christmas party but alas it was not to be. We did have a lot of fun at the party though. We got there a little late as mi chica did the best she could to get off work fast, considering she traded shifts and got here almost at six our getting there at around 7:30 p.m. was not too bad.

Our Christmas Party is always in a pretty nice place, the food is always good and for the past six years it's had a DJ which for us makes the party as we love to dance. Matter of fact the DJ was the same one we used in July for our Summit and he recognized us right away. He immediately told us that he was prepared to play some Cumbias and Salsa. He even threw some Merengue in the mix so that was pretty cool, however we taught he had some sort of deal with Michel Jackson because he played quite a bit of his music.

One of my co-workers is a professional photographer and he has always been hired to take portraits at this event. Granted they won't be ready until late February but hey they are also free as the company picks up the tab. This year I took an additional portrait with my two sisters that were there in attendance too.

But what's a party without a little drama. Turns out that one of the quietest employees we have there, you know the one that keeps to himself and pretty much works his butt off without ever messing with anyone. Well, he happened to be dancing with his wife and to tell you the truth most of us didn't think he would have it in him to dance. Anyway, as I said as he danced some of the co-workers of the female kind thought it would be a nice gesture to cheer him as he danced. Harmless right? Wrong, his wife whom strikes me as a "homegirl" got super jealous and wanted to start a rumble there. Now the girls were young and having fun and bottom line being friendly towards a coworker, the jealous one is already an older woman nearing the half century mark.

I, for some reason that will not disclose here to protect the innocent and along with my brother in law whom also works there got dragged into this dramatic situation and had to a certain point become the party police. You know the mediators as if we were back in grade school to try to keep things under control. I am happy to say that after a while the older woman calmed down and probably knew that if she wanted to rumble it wouldn't happen that night so finally left. Which was kind of a relief to my brother in law and I as we have to work with this innocent coworker that unfortunately was ridiculed by his wife in what should have been a joyous occasion.

I know comes Monday he will be full of apologies, but anyone that is smart will tell him that he has nothing to apologise for. Then again he may not say absolutely anything and just eat his pride and let life go on. Either way, I for one am cool with him and proud to be his coworker.

I guess the moral to these last three paragraphs is, if you happen to attend your spouses Christmas Party be aware that all his/hers co-workers both male and female will be there and will show camaraderie, and two if you can't hold your liquour then don't drink. While you can make an ass of yourself you won't have to face them again until maybe the following Christmas Party and that's a big maybe. However, your spouce the one you so willingly embarassed at that company event will have to keep seeing all these people at work every day.

All in all we had a terrific time, mi chica and I danced a lot and came home pretty tired. Luckily for me I could stay in bed the following morning, however mi chica had to go to work.

Now as I write this we are preaparig for tomorrow because we are hosting my grandson "Ducky's" fourth birthday, but that will be another story.

Friday, December 05, 2008

My grandson "Ducky" will be having a birthday soon, I thought it would be a great idea to celebrate his birthday earlier. My intention is for him to have the best birthday we can possibly give him. He will be turning four years old and he is at that age where he already understands and probably looks forward to his party, which by the way will be held this coming Sunday.

What a joy this little kid is, that's why he is "My Ducky" and I love him very, very much.

His birthday is a week before Christmas and it is very easy for people to wanna consolidate a birthday/Christmas present. I warned people since he was born that I would not allow that. I figure an early party will most likely prevent that from happening. Am I smart or what?

Mi chica will be in charge of the cooking and I know she'll have some super great tasting food, I don't know if I have mentioned this before but when it comes to cooking mi chica comes second to none. It's funny because when we got married she didn't know how to cook. Then one day she told my mom that she would really like to learn how to cook and my mom's reply was for her to get into the kitchen when she was cooking. Needless to say, mi chica learned all of my mom's dishes and then threw her own signature on all of them. So even though they may cook the same dish you can rest assured that the taste won't be the same. But I digress. Did I ever tell you mi chica is a great cook?

Anyway, I hope the party is a success. Please join me from wherever you are on Sunday in singing the Happy Birthday song to "Ducky".

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

This coming Friday the company that I work for will hold it's annual Christmas Party. It's nice to see that even though business has been slow they still found a budget to throw the party. This year it will be held at The Pointe Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix. I am glad that this year the party came earlier, normally it's later in the month.

There are two all expenses paid trips raffled every year. One to Hawaii, and the other a 5-day Mexican Riviera Cruise. In eighteen years I have never won, and many of the newbies have. Will lady luck come knocking on my door this year. Yeah, right.Anyway, most of the trip winners soon leave the company, so I guess I rather keep my job. lol

Hawaiian trip, Mexican Riviera Cruise or bust!

I am really looking for a Christmas Season full of family unity. Most of us are broke, some due to scarce jobs and some because we are living above our means but always say that Christmas is not about the presents or the money, but about family and love. I am so fortunate to have both of those key ingredients, so I know my holidays will be pretty nice.

Two thousand years ago the King of Kings was born.'The Lamb of God' later made to feel the thorn,If his words are accepted and not scorned,They will make us all reborn.

Though God's grace, Joseph and Mary presentedA gift to the world that day, which we can all repay,by living the ten commandments each and every day.

Try to remember and keep in your heart and mindJesus' gospel while here on Earth,Redemption not a life lived in constant mirth. Peace on Earth, good will toward manEveryone should try it, whenever they can.

The Lord gave us the option and choice of 'free will,'Now it's up to us to fit the bill.

So when you’re Christmas shopping for family and friends,and money is tight at both ends,Remember that the greatest gift of all,Is your love of Jesus in the manger stall.

We all like to give a gift to show how much we appreciate a particular person, but your gift doesn't have to be expensive. Actually, it doesn't have to cost anything at all. So here's a list of some of those wonderful free gifts. I'll leave them to you as food for thought.

The gift of listening

The gift of a smile

The gift of a compliment

The gift of a letter

The gift of a favor

The gift of solitude

The gift of laughter

The gift of time

The gift of love

On the other hand, if you are swimming in money and want to go way opposite, then you can give me a new Mustang, a new Harley, and for mi chica, diamonds, diamonds, and more diamonds. Oh, and you can also throw a designer purse or two, I hear those are real useful.

Monday, December 01, 2008

I really don't know what happened but a lot of my family members got sick over the weekend. At first I thought maybe the food at Manny's was the culprit but when my son called us and told us they were sick too I knew that was not the case because they were not with us on Friday. My daughter was already feeling the bug as was my son in law.

My brother in law visited from California and the poor soul spend half the time on the couch passed out, then my sister also from California left on Sunday afternoon and didn't get home until midnight. First because the traffic was bumper to bumper when she got to Palm Springs and second because she started feeling sick to her stomach too. Well today mi chica had to call in sick too. Can anybody say epidemic. lol

But even with all this, the food was cooked, we all ate, we had fun, we got together, we visited more relatives, the majority of the presents were bought, we had a karaoke night at home, we were invited to eat the best home made enchiladas this side of the border, we worked on our Christmas cards, we mailed Christmas cards, so all in all, it was a fun productive weekend but some got sick.

My daughter started hanging Christmas decorations, she claims that soon the house will be a fabulous winter wonderland. Ummmm, we'll see if that's true. When and if that happens I will share a few images with ya all. So, as my daughter says, don't be "fun suckers" and get with the program. The spirit of Christmas is pretty much alive and it has arrived. I really hope you get it too.